Friday, December 16, 2011

BofA Continues Attacks On Hapless Homeowners; Refuses To Honor Earlier-Granted Loan Modification To Widow After Hubby's Recent Death

In Phoenix, Arizona, KPHO-TV Channel 5 reports:

  • June Geffre lost her husband Tom to pancreatic cancer in November 2009. Months before he died, he applied for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Geffre said a permanent modification was granted shortly after he passed away – but she's run into all sorts of problems because her dead husband never got to sign the papers.


  • "Here I was, paying every month (the amount the bank told me to pay), thinking I was OK and waiting for the OK that the loan would be approved in my name and everything," said Geffre. "Then they hit me in July saying, ‘We can't accept your money anymore.'"


  • She said bank representatives told her she was paying the wrong amount and was now in default. She was at her wit's end when ASU's Homeowner Advocacy Unit and other community agencies stepped in to help.


  • "Ms. Geffre sent at least five copies of the death certificate. It took that long for Bank of America to realize her husband was dead," said Alyson Vivattanapa, a student attorney with the Homeowner Advocacy Unit.


  • A foreclosure sale was scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday. "Federal law allows her to assume the mortgage so she can stay in her home," said Vivattanapa. Advocates got a temporary restraining order just in time, which will keep June in her home for another month while they hash this out in court.


  • "There's absolutely a great injustice," said Vivattanapa. "Bank of America should have accepted the HAMP agreement and let her stay in home."


  • "I don't have a whole heck of a lot, but what I do have I worked hard for," said Geffre. "What right do they have to do this to anybody?"


  • CBS 5 News contacted Bank of America for comment. A spokesperson responded via email, saying, "We are unable to comment on this case due to the pending litigation." Both sides are due back in court later this week.

Source: Widow: Bank won’t honor loan mod after husband dies.

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